Chances are you've spent the last few days completely absorbed in election news — and how could you not be? — but here's a bright spot to cheer you up! While you were busy today fending off Donald Trump-related nerves with calming breathing techniques, more than 50 brand new Unicode 10 emojis were approved, and they're exactly what your texts have been missing.
As BuzzFeed reports, the Unicode Consortium approved 56 new emojis on Nov. 10 to be released with Unicode 10, and while we don't know exactly when the new emojis will be ready for you to text to your friends ad nauseam, they are definitely worth getting excited about. There are a few variations of your favorite emojis — a "shocked face with exploding head" seems like a particularly useful pictogram to have at your finger tips right now — but there are also some brand new ones that have been, quite frankly, a long time coming. Among the more notable additions? A breastfeeding emoji (yes, finally!), and a hijab emoji (yes, FINALLY!). See? I told you it's exciting.
The update also includes a couple of other emojis that I can totally see myself working into conversation on a pretty much constant basis. According to Unicode, there will also be a sandwich emoji, a zombie emoji, a brain emoji, and a "face with open mouth vomiting" emoji.
It's worth adding that just because the emojis have been approved by Unicode doesn't mean they're instantly going to appear on your phone anytime soon. Once the new emojis are released, they still need to be included in updates released by iOS and Android. But, just the fact that new, diverse emojis are coming is enough to make me smile right now, and that's no easy feat in this tumultuous post-election world.
I mention the election partially in jest, but it's actually pretty relevant. As you may recall, Donald Trump openly threatened to ban Muslims from entering America if he became president. The president-elect has since removed any anti-Muslim language from his website, and it's unclear what exactly Trump plans to do once he's in office. However, Islamophobia is a real and terrible force too many Americans deal with on a regular basis, and if something so simple as an emoji can do its part to normalize the hijab, then I am here for it.
We're also talking about a man who once reportedly called a breast-pumping mom "disgusting" in a society that already shames acts like breastfeeding in public, so the fact that a small but mighty breastfeeding emoji will soon be available on Trump's phone gives me more satisfaction than it probably should.
So you see, my friends, these aren't simply new emojis — they're new emojis that will soon serve a very important purpose. The push for diverse emojis that are more inclusive and representative of all people will only help us to become more inclusive and representative of all people IRL — and that is a beautiful, beautiful thing. *Insert new Unicode 10 "I love you hand sign" emoji here.*
Check out all the new Unicode emojis on their way here.
Images: Unicode
